Africa-Press – Angola. The Tetelo mine was inaugurated on Wednesday in the municipality of Maquela do Zombo in the province of Uíge. The mine has a processing capacity of 4,000 tons of ore and produces 300 tons of copper concentrate per day.
The country’s first modern copper mine was inaugurated by the Minister of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas, Diamantino Azevedo, who was accompanied by the Governor of Uíge, José Carvalho da Rocha. The mine is located in an exploration area of 2,900 square kilometers.
The project is estimated to last 14 years and will provide 1,523 jobs. It also plans to recover zinc and lead in the last quarter of 2026.
Azevedo said that Uíge is entering history as the land of copper and that Maquela do Zombo is the epicenter of a new cycle of industrial, economic, and social development for the country.
“This act is not just an inauguration. It is an act of strategic vision. It is Angola asserting its economic sovereignty. It is Angola entering with authority into the era of 21st-century critical minerals,” the minister said.
He added that copper is one of the most strategic metals on the planet today, indispensable for electric vehicles, smart energy grids, batteries, solar energy, electric mobility, data centers, and the digital industry.
The minister underscored that through these initiatives, Angola is positioning itself intelligently and sovereignty, adding that prospecting is already underway in the provinces of Moxico, Huíla, Cuanza Sul, Cuando, and Cubango, integrating the country into the great Lufilian Arc, one of the largest copper belts on the planet.
He mentioned that the prospecting and development of other important minerals for the energy transition—such as lithium, rare earths, phosphates, and niobium—is underway in the provinces of Namibe, Huambo, Cabinda, and Huíla.
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